Cylindrical printing-plate



E. E. NOVOTNY.

CYLINDRICAL PHINUNGPLATE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. I3| IBIS.

1 ,3 1 9, 1 O7 Patented Oct. 2l, 1919.

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. UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

EMIL E. N OVOTNY, 0F RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 J. STOGDELL STOKES, OF MOORESTOWN, NEW JERSEY.

cYLINDEIcAL PRINTING-PLATE.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led December 18, 1916. i Serial'No. 137,664.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known' that I, EMIL. E. Novo'rNY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Riverside, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cylindrical Printing- Plates, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates'to printing plates such as are adapted particularly for use in connection with rotary presses, or

those employing cylindrical impression surfaces.

In carrying out my invention it is my purpose to provide a printing element having an impression producing or type face, such element being in the nature of a cylindrical shell, the wall of which is continuous and integral, in that it is unbroken by joints,

spaces or the like, the element itself, and which I herein call a printing plate, being molded or cast from a body of plastic material such as a phenolic condensation product, of which there are several varieties known in the art, such for instance, asfcondensite and ba-kelite.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a printing plate of tubular form having the printing face thereof provided with substantially endless type matter or designs, so that the latter may be continuously repeated upon the paper in the printing operation, as in the printing of wall paper, textiles, wrappers, labels, tape and the like,

or under circumstances where it is desired to successively and continuously reproduce the desired printing on a web-like sheet.

Still a further object of the invention is the provision of a tubular or cylindrical printing plate which may be rapidly and economically produced from a iat body or plate by an exceedingly simple method, the type face of such tubular plate being of substantially the same radial contour throughout.

Furthermore, I propose to provide a cylindrical plate which will be found especially useful in connection with presses for high class color work, wherein several colors are used in the production of a design. Ordinarily, in such color work several printing cylinders are employed, one for each color, and each of such cylinders is made up of a series, or of a number of segmental plate-like sections, each section usually hav- Patented 0ct. 21, 1919.

heavier machinery, whereas with my invention I am enabled to use a relatively small cylinder, which may be of one-half, or even less than one-half the size of the ordinary cylinder inasmuch as my cylindrical plate is continuous throughout its printing surface.

Furthermore, I aim to provide a printing plate of such a character which will have a tough, close-grained tenacious printing surface, capable of withstanding the rough usage incident to the printing operation and also capable ofy producinghigh grade clearcut printing results.

With the above recited objects and others of a similar nature in view, my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view showing a flat matrix which is subsequently shaped to form the matrix for my improved plate.

Fig. 2 is a view illustrating the rolling or curving of the matrix.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the cylindrical matrix clamped onto a tubular shell.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through a casting boX and showing the casting of the plate.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken through the complete printing plate ready for the press.

In the practice of my invention I first prepare a flat sheet-like matrix from a body of ordinary type, this matrix being preferably made from a composite plate having a molding face of metal and a backing of a phe-f nollc condensation product therefor, such a composite sheet forming the subject matter of my co-pending application, Ser. No. 98,909, filed May 2.0, 1916. The matrix 1s indicated by the numeral l, and the molding` face thereof is shown at 2. This flat matrix 1 may be rolled or bent into the form of a cylindrical tube in any suitable manner, one method of doing this being shown in Fig. 2. In said ligure the numeral 3 indicates a cylindrical mandrel having a covering 4 of felt or other suitable material for the purpose of providing a suitable friction surspo face. Over this mandrel is slipped a cylindrical shell 5 of steel, or other suitable material, one end of said shell having an external circumferential flange 6 provided with bores or ports 7 while the opposite end of said shell is provided with an external flange 8 having bores or ports 9 which also constitute vents Afor the escape of surplus plate-making material when the shell 1s ar-` ranged in the casting box as hereinafter described. Referring again to said Fig. 2 the flat matrix plate 1 is now imposed. or placed in contact with this shell 5 on the mandrel so that the roller 10 of the plate-bending mechanism will coperate with the mandrel to roll the matrix into cylindrical form' about the shell on the mandrel, when such mandrel is driven or rotated in any suitable manner as through power suitably applied to the pulley 11 on the shaft of the mandrel. It will be understood that heat is applied to the mandrel in any well known way to heat the latter and thussoften the matrix plate suieiently to enable it to be readily and easily rolled into cylindrical form.A After the matrix has been so rolled about the shell 5 on the mandrel it is clamped to said shell through the medium of suitable clamping devices 12 carried by the shell and intended to engage or act as retaining means for the ends of the matrix. After the rolling or bending operation above described has been completed the mandrel is permitted to cool to allow the matrix to properly set or harden on the shell 5 and then such shell with the matrix is removed from the mandrel and will appear as shown in Fig. 3. The next step is the casting of the plate itself. This plate is preferably made of a plastic material, such as a phenolic condensation product and to produce the plate I set the shell 5 carryingthe matrixinto asuitable tubular casting box preferably of cylindrical form, which is indicated as an entirety -by the letter B. In the present instance I have merely shown a suiiicient por-v tion of the casting box to give a complete understanding of the invention. Such casting box is preferably made of two duplicate semi-cylindrical sections, one of which is shownV at 13, each section comprising a bottom 14, a side Wall 15 anda top wall 16,.the latter removably mounted on the top end 17 of the side wall 15, such top wall being' preferably beveled downward and inward as shown at 18. A ram or cover 19 is also provided which is beveled as at .20 to correspond to the beveled face 18 of the top wall ofthe casting box. Hinges 21 are provided to connect the two sections of the casting box and of course when these two sections are closed to form a complete cylinder they may be latched together in any suitable manner. When the steel shell 5 carrying the matrix is placed in the casting box as is shown in Fig. 4, the ports or bores 7 in the flange 6 of the shell communicate with vertical channels 22 formed in the `casting box, and similarly the vents 9 in the lower flange 8 of the shell 5 are intended to communicate with escape ports or channels 23 in the bottom of the casting box. The alinement or proper positioning of the steel shell with its matrix in the casting box may be insured in any suitable manner, such as by vertically grooving the wall of the casting box to seat or receive the overhanging edges of the clamps 12, when the shell 5 is inserted in the box. After the shell and matrix have beenl positioned in the casting box as .is shown in Fig. 4:, the plastic plate making material', which is also in the nature of a phenolic condensation product, such as condensite or bakelite, in a soft sluggishly flowing condition is fed into the well orv depression 24: formed in the top of the casting box and is forced into the casting box through the channels 22 by the closing of the cover or ram 19, this Aplastic material passing through the ports in the top flange 6 of the shell 5 and into the space between the outer material is continued until the cover or ram is closed, at which time the cylindrical space between the matrix-and the shell 5 will be completely filled with the plastic material, and consequently a cylindrical printing plate of phenolic condensation product having an impression-producing or printing surface complementary to the molding face of the matrix will be produced. Heat is applied to the casting box during the molding operation, and after the molding operation has been completed, the casting box is allowed to cool or is cooled to hasten the hardening or setting of the plate, and which cylindrical or tubular plate is indicated in the drawings by the numeral 25. The casting box may now be opened and the shell with the matrix and the plate lifted therefrom. The clamps 12 are now opened and .the matrix removed from the plate by separating the meeting edges 2a of such matrix, thus opening out the latter or stripping it from the plate. The exterior peripheral face of the plate will of course now form the printing surface or have impressionproducing characters thereon, and such plate is permitted to remain on the metallic shell 5 which forms a permanent part of and a support and backing for the relatively thin cylindrical shell sleeved thereon as described. In actual use the metallic shell 5 is slipped onto a suitable arbor or cylinder of the printing press and the printing may be proceeded with.

Thus it will be noted that I have provided a cylindrical printing plate formed of a hard durable, tenacious, incompressible material, backed by a metallic shell. Which is capable of being employed in the production of high grade printing and of withstanding the wear and tear to which such plates are subjected in the operation of the machine. It will therefore be noted especially by reference to Figs'. 3 and 4 that the confining flanges at the ends of the metallic shell, 5, are formed by rolling or bending the metal at the ends of the shell outward and then backward into parallelism with the cylindrical wall of such shell, so that a hook-like circumferential flange is formed at each end of the shell. Inasmuch as the lateral portions of these two flanges are provided with ,ports, the plastic material, when the plate is molded, 'will fill these ports and act to anchor the cylindrical printing plate to the flanges, and such material will also lie beneath the flanges, thus forming at each end of the cylindrical plastic plate a reduced neck which is anchored or clamped by the adjacent flange. Thus the cylindrical hard cementitious printing plate will be firmly and permanently anchored on the metal shell by these flanges.

While I have herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to all the precise details herein set forth by way of illustration, as modication and variation may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: 1. A printing plate comprising a cylindrical shell-like body portion formed of a' bodyportion wherebv the latter is confined against movement on the inner shell. l

2. A printing plate comprising a cylindrical shell like body portion of a synthetic resinV product the outer circumferential face of which constitutes a printing-plate, and the inner shell upon which said body portion is mounted, said inner shell having end hooklike flanges overlying and engaging the reduced neck portions at the ends of the resinous shell-like body portions, whereby the' latter is confined against movement on lthe inner shell.

' EMIL E. NOVOTN Y.

1 60 In testimony whereof I affix my signature. 

